


Fat Cat

by AnonEhouse



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Not Steve Friendly, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Revenge, Steve's Letter to Tony Post-Civil War (Movie), Team Tony, apology letter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 05:38:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12675486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse
Summary: Tony goes over the note Rogers sent him, trying to figure out what it means.And what he should do in response.





	1. Chapter 1

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

 

 

 

Tony stared at the note from Rogers. He supposed it was meant as an apology, but it just confused the hell out of him.

 _Rattling around in a mansion by yourself_...what the hell was Rogers talking about? What mansion? Tony hadn't set foot in any of his homes around the world since he'd begun funding the Avengers with the collapse of SHIELD. He'd been too busy at first, racing around trying to salvage the agents whose covers had been blown, and then it became obvious that while the Avengers accepted his financial backing his wealth was a barrier to being one of them. He didn't want to rub their noses in it. Hell, he hasn't even had a holiday since...he can't remember. Ten years, at least. 

He had told himself he didn't mind not being socially accepted, that it was only natural coming from their various backgrounds where people with money and power had controlled them or at least made them feel powerless in comparison. So he'd made it a joke. No one laughed, though.

They were all too willing to follow Rogers, no questions asked, and the Avengers were needed, so he'd put his ego aside and called Rogers the boss.

_We all need family._

How. How could Rogers bring that up after watching Barnes kill Tony's parents? Jesus, and Tony thought _he_ was insensitive.

_The Avengers are yours, maybe more so than mine._

Really? Which Avengers? Backstabbing Romanov? Your fanboy, Wilson? Barton, who thinks Tony Stark is the Anti-Christ? Thor, who doesn't even live on this planet? Or maybe you mean Banner, who left me stuck with the bag for Ultron and then skipped town without a forwarding address. Not that he really blamed him. Romanov had been playing Bruce- maybe she was attracted to power. 

And then there was Maximoff, who should never have been an Avenger in the first place. Rogers called her a child, and coddled her. 

_I've been on my own since I was eighteen._

Ok, that's even BETTER. Tony was seventeen when Barnes' hands took his parents from him.

_I never really fit in anywhere -- even in the Army._

Yeah, you fought and lied and cheated and _bullied_ your way in. You didn't go through the training everyone else had to do to earn their rank, it's a wonder that you didn't fit in. Try being sent to boarding school at seven years old, away from the only people who didn't treat you like a freak prodigy. And going to M.I.T. at fifteen, sure, they met me with open arms. In your dreams. 

_My faith is in people, I guess. Individuals. And I'm happy to say for the most part they haven't let me down._

Does Wakanda have alcohol strong enough to get you drunk? Because, really, how could a sober person brag about having faith in people when he didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth? And yeah, twist the knife. No one lets Captain America down, hooray, but Iron Man? Hell, do whatever you like to him, he deserves it.

_Which is why I can't let them down either. Locks can be replaced, but --maybe they shouldn't._

Definitely gotta order some Wakandan whisky, that must be amazing shit. What locks? Oh, yeah. Gotta go rescue the minions. I pity the poor bastards guarding the Raft. Wonder how many of them will survive Captain Righteous. Of course he doesn't have the shield. That may up their chances.

_I know I hurt you Tony. I guess I thought -- by not telling you about your parents I was sparing you, but... I can see now I was really sparing myself._

Sparing yourself? You were fucking _using_ me, using my time, my money, my resources, my brain, my Goddamn body and pain, to help the man who murdered my parents. What kind of warped mind do you have, Rogers, to pretend that was a mistaken attempt to respect my feelings? I'm really insulted that you believe I'm stupid enough to buy this load of crap.

_I'm sorry._

I believe that. You're sorry that you were caught out, that you couldn't keep me funding everything and fixing everything, and talking to the people you were too good to deal with. I lay down, belly deep in mud, so you could stand on my back and keep yourself pure and spotless, innocent in your ignorance of the way the real world works. I bet you'd have demanded I use the system I developed to get over my parents' death (newsflash, it didn't work) to help their murderer. And then, of course, he'd be an Avenger. Like I never was.

_Hopefully one day you can understand._

Yeah, I understand now. I wanted to protect people. I thought you did, too. I didn't know 'people' to you only meant a select few. I didn't know you'd throw the whole world under the bus to save Barnes. Funny thing, he'd have been better off if you'd taken the deal I brokered for you. But then, that wouldn't have been due to _your_ noble actions. Fists are so much more pure than tongues. Huh, that sounds dirty. Everything I say and do always sounded dirty to you, Captain Language. You made me _feel_ dirty.

_I wish we agreed on the Accords, I really do._

Yep, because, you know, you despise me, but at the same time, you think I can buy and sell anything. If I had agreed with you, you would have expected me to beg, bribe, threaten and finally BUY the U.N. to make them pull the Accords. And when I refused, or if I was really insane, I tried and failed, you would have been so, so disappointed in me.

_I know you were only doing what you believe in, and that's all any of us can do, it's all any of us should._

Sounds good, but oh, your beliefs are situational. Leave no man behind! Except when it's me. Be totally honest! Except when it's me. Protect all the civilians! Except when they're in the way of protecting Barnes.

_So no matter what, I promise if you -- if you need us. If you need me, I'll be there._

Tony looked at the telephone. He considered his options. He could call and scream at Rogers. He could ignore it. He could repulsor it to slag and then mail it back to Wakanda where Rogers apparently thought he was so cleverly hiding. He could give it to someone else in the event that Rogers and his minions might eventually make useful cannon fodder. 

Or.... "Friday." Tony turned on the phone and held it next to his own, silently apologizing to his tech for the contamination. "Get Rogers' number from this beast's memory, and post it to all the online discussion boards and victims' groups that have been seeking accountability from the Avengers for their recent actions. Tell them this is Captain America's private line, and they should feel free to call him, and ask him their questions in person."

"Yes, Boss," Friday said.

Tony smiled. "Oh, and if he doesn't answer, give them any phone numbers belonging to King T'Challa, but again, keep Captain America's name on them."

"And if they can't get through on those lines?" Friday said. She sounded pleased. She was a vindictive little shit, just like Tony.

"Do the same thing with all the lines belonging to anyone employed or living in the Wakandan palace, then all the lines belonging to anyone employed in Wakandan embassies around the world." Tony thought a minute. What the hell, Rogers, collateral damage. "Then all the phones in the Wakandan capitol. Remember, put them all under Captain America's name." Tony wondered if T'Challa had told his people he was sheltering the Avengers. Honesty is so very important. He should thank Tony for the opportunity to learn that lesson without being beaten half to death in the process.

Tony tossed the phone into a trash can, and walked outside. Now, what to do with the 'Avengers' Compound... he could demolish it, he could give it to the government... he could convert and expand it and recruit his own Avengers... but it would still carry the taint of betrayal, of him being nothing more than the cash cow, the fat cat...

Oh, there was an idea.

"Friday, check the paperwork on converting the Avengers Compound to a non-profit no-kill animal shelter and sanctuary."

"Got it, Boss! What name should I put on it?"

"Fat Cat. Yeah, the Fat Cat." Tony looked at the grounds and nodded. "No more herding Avenger cats. They rubbed me the wrong way for the last time."

And, grinning like a Cheshire cat, Tony walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

Three months later Tony was visiting the Fat Cat, taking an unscheduled kitten cuddling break. It had done wonders for his nerves.

Pepper had seen the public service announcement about spaying and neutering, which involved Tony sitting on a sofa in one of the Interaction Rooms, completely covered in kittens and well... damn, live kittens were apparently better than giant plush rabbits. They'd been married for a month now, and he still found himself rubbing his wedding ring to remind himself it had really happened.

So he tended to visit the kitty part of Fat Cat more often than the rest of it. It was too huge to see all of it in one time, and then there were the community outreach programs- free fences for people who had been forced to keep their dogs chained because they couldn't afford safe enclosures, subsidized pet care and supplies for the elderly and other people whose income no longer allowed the 'luxury' of a companion animal, homeless shelters with combined kennels so people could get off the streets without abandoning their friends, Trap Neuter Release programs for semi-feral cat colonies with volunteer sponsors who just needed a little help, mobile neutering clinics, legislation battles to legalize pet ferrets- domesticated for thousands of years you couldn't call them wild animals, guilt free redemption of exotic animals kept as pets- even if illegal, and on and on.

Tony had spent his life trying to protect people, first by supporting the military, and then as Iron Man. It was only fair that animals now got his help. 

He was heading towards the Fluffy Room, where all the kittens were long-haired types, when he heard a commotion from the intake lobby.

"HEY, BUB, THIS IS A CAT!" There was a loud hissing, spitting, growling noise accompanying the man's words.

Curious, Tony followed the noise. A man about Tony's height, but built in a way Tony had never dreamed, not even in his blacksmith hobby days, was standing in front of the counter holding a... well... cat, technically. It was a bobcat, or maybe a lynx, at least forty pounds of pissed off feline with a mangled hind leg, but obviously not a damn thing wrong with its teeth or other three legs, because it was attempting to shred the man holding it.

"Shuddup, you," he told the cat. "You're hurtin' my ears."

Amazingly, he was ignoring the attack, and still had a cigar clenched between his teeth. He had bristly muttonchops and hair brushed up to either side of his head in a way that resembled ears. Tony's heart went out to him as a fellow unashamed facial hair bro. Even if his style did look weird.

"No smoking," Tony said.

The man rolled his eyes, but spit the cigar out and crushed it underfoot. "You the boss?"

Tony couldn't help smiling. "Yes, yes, I am."

"They told me they couldn't help this cat!"

"Well, not HERE, they can't. This is for domestic cats. The vets here aren't trained for other species. You need to go around to the Zoo Zone."

"Huh. Where?"

"Follow me." Tony was intrigued. "There's a maglev." Not surprisingly, when they walked up the ramp to reach the continuously circling cars overhead, no one wanted to share with Tony, a shaggy beast, and a bobcat. "I'm Tony Stark," Tony said, as a hint.

"Logan," the guy grunted. He settled into the seat and absently patted the cat with the hand it wasn't gnawing on while he looked around at the grounds. "That's a giraffe," he noted in passing, looking down into one of the fenced off pastures.

"Yeah. A zoo had too many. Apparently they didn't believe in birth control for their animals." Tony frowned and wondered if he should do a spay and neuter campaign for zoos.

"Huh," Logan said.

"If you don't mind me asking... HOW," Tony pointed at Logan's gnawed hand, which was healing as fast as the cat chewed.

"Mutant," Logan said, despite Tony trying to shush him. Logan rolled his eyes. "And bastards." The muscles shifted in his arm, and shining metal claws extended from his knuckles. The bobcat hissed.

Tony rubbed his chest where the memory of metal lingered. "Bastards," he agreed. "Hey, you know, if you have some time, you could volunteer here."

"Maybe. Do you get rabbits? I like rabbits."

Tony decided to give him the benefit of the doubt even though Logan looked like he could eat a rabbit whole, and spit out the fur. "Sure, we take in rescues of all kinds."

Logan leaned forward as they passed over the elephant pasture.

"Ex-circus elephants," Tony explained.

Logan pointed at the man pushing a huge wheelbarrow, loaded high with dung. "That guy's chained to the wheelbarrow." He frowned at Tony. "If that's how you treat volunteers, count me out."

"Oh, no, that's part of our convict rehabilitation program," Tony said, smiling down at Rogers who didn't duck in time as an elephant relieved itself, and he was splattered up the knees. "Don't worry about him. He's used to shoveling crap."

Logan shrugged. "Just so it's not me." He patted the bobcat. "I had enough shit."

"Me too," Tony said companionably.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romanov gets to clean out litterboxes all day long. 
> 
> Lang's not so bad, he got a relatively cushy job, bathing dogs. 
> 
> Maximoff has to look into the minds of traumatized animals, and see what happened to them-- she cries a lot. It's good for her, she's learning empathy. 
> 
> Barton gets to handle the bigger livestock, so if he gets loud and rough, the horses, etc. kick him. A nanny goat put him through the fence the other day.
> 
> Wilson is, among other things, in charge of shaving sick sheep's butts and applying ointments to help them heal their rashes. He also gets to clip the poor poodles whose coats were let grow for years and are all matted and filthy. Surprisingly, he doesn't really mind, because he sees how much better the animals feel afterward. He's in line to get promoted to a choice of a different job soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Having vision problems so am not able to concentrate on long Wip 'Peachy Keen', but apparently I can channel Tony Stark being vindictive with my eyes closed.
> 
> Despite the name, the sanctuary will accept all species. Llama, llama, duck...

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Everything is better with cats](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12940467) by [Ana (Anafandom)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anafandom/pseuds/Ana)




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